SAG Nominations Announced

Last year, the SAG awards completely overlooked the cast of "Homeland."

A bunch of Emmys later, I guess the SAG folks noticed, with nominations this year for Claire Danes and Damian Lewis. "Homeland" also received a nomination for Best Drama Ensemble.

While with the Oscars, the SAG votes can often serve as a precursor as to whom will win, it doesn't always ring true when it comes to the Emmys. For example, Steve Buscemi has won the SAG the past two years for "Boardwalk Empire," but Lewis won the Emmy after not getting a SAG nomination.

By the way, for all my grumbling about "Homeland" this year, I've never criticized the acting, which has frequently risen above the inconsistent writing.

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Among the nominations, I was most disappointed not seeing "The Walking Dead" getting a best ensemble nomination, since it's much better than "Boardwalk Empire." Similarly, Jeff Daniels getting a nomination for "The Newsroom" while "Justified's" Timothy Olyphant getting overlooked also is a mistake. As usual, "Sons of Anarachy's" Katey Sagal is once again overlooked, but that's been the case for so often that I don't even get upset anymore.

In the comedy categories, interestingly, only Eric Stonestreet and Ty Burrell were nominated for "Modern Family," in the lead actor category. (There is no supporting actor category with the SAGs.) Sofia Vergara was nominated as lead actress, while two-time Emmy winner Julie Bowen didn't even get a SAG nomination. Go figure.

Here's the list of nominees, as posted on TVGuide.com. Who are you rooting for?

WEDNESDAY'S BEST BETS: "Arrow" (CW, 8 p.m.) wraps up a fine first half of the season tonight in a Christmas-themed episode.

ABC has new episodes of its sitcoms, followed by the Barbara Walters Most Fascinating People special at 9:30 p.m.

NBC continues its white elephant themed game show, "Take It All," at 9 p.m. In the few moments I watched it, the gifts weren't nearly as clever as the pocket-sized book of the Kama Sutra I bought for my white elephant gift party. It follows new episodes of "Whitney" and "Guys With Kids," and precedes a new "Chicago Fire" at 10 p.m.

CBS has new episodes of "Survivor," "Criminal Minds" and "CSI" from 8-11 p.m., while Fox has two hours of "X-Factor."